2008 T-Party - Ford

No tariffs, just a few hundred friendly Ford fans

Feature Article from Hemmings Classic Car

Richmond, Indiana. It's just a stone's throw from the Ohio state line, right off Interstate 70. It's a picturesque town on historic Route 40, founded by North Carolina Quakers in 1806. To this day, farming is still its backbone--a way of life in the Midwest, where it appears as if change comes a bit slower than in the coastal communities. But from July 21 to 26 this year, the town rolled out the red carpet and gave the gate keys to the Wayne County Fairgrounds over to the Model T Ford Club, organizers of the 2008 Centennial T-Party.
Projected to be the single largest gathering of Model Ts during 2008, it's fair to say that the town was inundated by the constant clamor of the familiar single exhaust bolted up to an L-head four-cylinder engine. In fact, there were 970 examples of Henry's T in town, as thousands passed through the fairground's gates on foot to take part in the fun. Model T owners from 47 states made the trek--by driving or towing--as did representatives from nine countries, New Zealand included.
The weather, as a whole, was ideal for such a gathering, and unlike our predictions prior to arrival, the scorching midsummer heat took a back seat to pleasant temperatures. There were self-driving tours, the ever-popular Model T games and, of course, a sizable swap meet to fulfill your every T dream--whether it was to acquire spare parts, continue a restoration project, or to simply buy into the T phenomenon.
A 100th anniversary can be hard to top, but from what we saw, the Model T Ford Club should have no problems generating interest for its 2009 meet. Here's a taste of the party you missed.

This article originally appeared in the December, 2008 issue of Hemmings Classic Car.